Brainwaves (Primary Title)
Katie Grinnan, American, born 1970 (Artist)
"It is the alchemical yet paradoxical relationship between actual experience and our interpretations that has become the underlying focus of my work." — Katie Grinnan
Grinnan’s work addresses consciousness and subjectivity—broad realms that she approaches in personal ways. Travels, memories, and the experience of her own body serve as touchstones for how the environment shapes perception and how the mind, in turn, translates the outside world. Brainwaves’ massive orb of layered plastic and Plexiglas shards, supported by a core of steel, resembles the shape of the brain. Printed images show Grinnan’s childhood home in Richmond; her current residences in Los Angeles and nearby Topanga; and her travels to India, Mexico, and Las Vegas. Other images relate to the artist’s Internet research on theories of the brain and the universe, and to newspaper reports of current events. A video projects constantly shifting elements of the brain form onto a stand-in for one’s worldly self.
Grinnan’s work addresses consciousness and subjectivity—broad realms that she approaches in personal ways. Travels, memories, and the experience of her own body serve as touchstones for how the environment shapes perception and how the mind, in turn, translates the outside world. Brainwaves’ massive orb of layered plastic and Plexiglas shards, supported by a core of steel, resembles the shape of the brain. Printed images show Grinnan’s childhood home in Richmond; her current residences in Los Angeles and nearby Topanga; and her travels to India, Mexico, and Las Vegas. Other images relate to the artist’s Internet research on theories of the brain and the universe, and to newspaper reports of current events. A video projects constantly shifting elements of the brain form onto a stand-in for one’s worldly self.
Gift of Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr.
© Katie Grinnan
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